CEO Business Visits

• Mr. Derek Betz, Owner

CEO Guest Speakers

• Ms. Cheryl Mitchell, Executive Director of Midland Institute
• Investor Lunceon at the St. Clair Country Club

This week in CEO was nice and short. This week we had presentation from Cheryl Mitchell, and visited Fletchers Kitchen & Tap. This week was very short. On Monday we had a work day. On our work day Michael Crotty presented his concept model for the centerpiece for the tables, for the trade show/ banquet. Mr. Crotty from Althoff presented to our class a prototype of the mini fountain. I thought the idea of the fountain was creative, initially. Although, realistically I think it will become somewhat expensive in the long run. On Tuesday our class went to Fletchers Kitchen & Tap, where we had a presentation from Derek Betz. Derek Betz is one of two owners of the business. Originally there were three partners. He explains what it means to be pig dedicated, and chicken invested. I thought that, that analogy made a lot of sense because it separates responsibilities. He talked about how his business started, what it takes for someone to run a successful business, and his other entrepreneurial ventures. His other ventures include helping other business open by investing in them. Mr. Betz also talked about “worker bees”. He said that worker bees are people that rather have a set of directions, tangible work to do, constant productivity, and achievable goals. Wednesday we had a presentation by Cheryl Mitchell. Cheryl Mitchell is the interim executive director of Midland Institute. The first executive director was Craig Lindvahl. Midland began in 2008-2009. Craig Lindvahl was an independent film, music teacher before Midland. In 2010 the institute was founded with the help of midland bank in Effingham. Cheryl talked about brand recognition, her life before Midland, and the prospective growth of the CEO program. CEO is currently in 28 communities, and has 30 classes. She also talked about how it takes 9 months to get a CEO program started. Cheryl Mitchell was very upbeat and energetic presenter. I think it's always nice to have a presenter who is excited to present, and has interesting information to give such as Ms. Mitchell.

Epiphany Smith
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Epiphany

This week of the CEO program ends early on Wednesday due to our instructor being at IBEA in Springfield on Thursday and for not having school on Friday due to Veterans Day. On Monday our class met at Barcom to have a work day and to speak with Michael Crotty. On Tuesday class met a Fletcher’s Kitchen and Tap to speak with Derek Betz. On Wednesday the CEO class was back at Barcom to speak with Cheryl Mitchell of Midland Institute.

 Starting off the week on Monday with a work day at Barcom. As scheduled our class invited Mr. Michael Crotty over to Barcom to discuss the decor of the class business. Mr. Crotty brought in a concept model of the mini fountains that we will have on each table. He also tipped us on a way to advertise our sponsorships on the mini fountains which is really important because it builds trust and relations between the sponsoring businesses and our class by proving that investing in our class is a great way of advertisement.

 Tuesday morning meeting at Fletcher’s Kitchen and Tap to speak with part owner Derek Betz. I picked up that when running a business you have to be invested financially and physically into your company. I learned that you have to invest your profits back into your business in order for it to really strive and compete. Being invested in your business physically means putting in the hours and showing your staff the way it should be done.

 Ending the week early on Wednesday by speaking with Cheryl Mitchell who is currently the Executive Director of Midland Institute.  Ms. Mitchell taught me that anything is possible when you really set your mind to something. She used Craig Lindvahl as an example telling us how he used to be a third grade music teacher to where he’s at now and how he’s made an impact in this world.

Devin Alexander
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Devin

Week 12 of CEO featured one visit, one guest speaker, and one work day. Our class visited Derek Betz at Fletcher's, and we were visited by Cheryl Mitchell of Midland Institute.

On Tuesday we visited Derek Betz who owns Fletcher’s. He talked about leadership and how people are the most important things in our lives. “Sometimes being in charge means failing and how you deal with it,” said Mr. Betz. He also told us we can only be “pig committed” to one business. There's always a pig and a chicken, but the pig has to die for a good breakfast while the chicken can just lay an egg and walk away. I really like the philosophy of a pig and a chicken, and to be a true entrepreneur I want to be chicken committed to a lot of businesses. As we are told to vary our sales, we should also vary our participation within businesses. The more businesses we are involved in the more potential success we could have.

Wednesday Cheryl Mitchell from Midland Institute came to visit the class. Cheryl is the executive director of Midland Institute which oversees all of the CEO classes. It was nice to hear her perspective about CEO since she is in charge of everything. Cheryl’s story of how she became the executive director is a true entrepreneurial story. She was a teacher and a director of training and development for Northwestern Mutual. Luckily for her, she had many connections and was thought to be the perfect person to fill in for Craig Lindvahl. That is an example how if you are a people person and likeable more opportunities will show up. I must make sure I am as nice and sociable as possible so I don't close any doors I didn't even know were open. She also made sure to tell us to always be developing ourselves. We are lucky to have a CEO class here in Belleville and we must take advantage of the opportunity and develop ourselves into future business leaders.

The work day was very beneficial to our class and we are getting closer to finalizing some of the little things for the class business. We only have a couple main things left and a major one is nailing down our keynote speaker. I’m excited with the way things are going and I believe our class is becoming more efficient as we all know each other well and can work with each other and understand differences.

Michael Lassman
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Michael

On Monday, our class finished delegating committee heads.  I am the chair of the floor plan committee.  We also further discussed decorations and keynote speakers.  I think we are doing a great job focusing on the class business.  It is amazing how much work we can accomplish in just one day if we put our minds to it.

On Tuesday, our class went to Fletcher’s.  I learned a lot from our speaker, Derek Betz.  Mr. Betz discussed a variety of topics including: supply and demand, lean cost, and workers.  Mr. Betz told us that if we want successful businesses, we have to go to a place where businesses are already thriving.  He also said that we should not underestimate our cost.  Businesses have variable cost and fixed cost, and we need to be prepared to cover both.  He also suggested that we should find ways to make cost lower.  I thought it was really cool that he did some of the work to build Fletcher’s expansion himself.  I believe it was a very creative way to cut cost.  Mr. Betz talked about “worker bees”.  In CEO, we strive to become the leaders who help “guide” the worker bees.  Mr. Betz explained that it is crucial to train employees properly as well as praising them when they do a good job.  I think that this is an effective way to encourage employees to continue to strive for their best in the work environment.

On Wednesday, Cheryl Mitchell from Midland Institute.  Mrs. Mitchell taught our class the history of the beginning of CEO.  Mr. Lindvahl’s story is very inspiring.  He started this class from nothing and now it is in multiple states across the country.  This is similar to how we start our own business.  I also learned that connections are crucial in starting a business.  Hearing stories of paths people have taken to start their own business gives me more confidence to pursue my goal of starting my own business.

Kaitlynn Borik
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Kaitlynn

All businesses need proper locations, as we have learned, location is essential. Sometimes businesses fail if not properly located that target the right crowd. This week our class had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Derek Betz. This was a clear representation of a small business owner. “Do it yourself”, currently, Mr. Betz is adding onto his restaurant Fletchers and has surpassed his initial budget projections. In order to compensate these costs, he and his staff are doing the work they can to save on costs. I have been able to relate with this in relation to our family business. I’m really enjoying the experience that is provided. All of the examples and business suggestions that I’ve learned through this class is helping me understand my family’s fish store.

Staff is important, Mr. Betz talked about the one minute manager. Basically you have only one minute to praise or scold an employee to make your point. When you applaud or correct an employee, it typically has a turmoil affect and your entire staff learns from that management decision. As you build your business, it’s important to build a staff that are all hardworking eager individuals. At Fletchers, they look for high school and college athletes. This hiring method has proven successful to Fletchers.  As I mentioned earlier, a hard working staff is essential for a business to reach its peak potential. Worker Bees are definitely the way to go! A worker bee is a hard working individual that takes pride in their work and is always going the extra step to ensure their job is done. As Derek has instilled this in his staff, Fletchers has become a successful restaurant.

While learning about management through Mr. Betz, Cheryl Mitchell from Midland Institute came down and spoke with us. She runs the CEO class “Franchise.” The reason is put the franchise in parentheses is because the technical term is a Chapter because CEO is non for profit. But to extend, she and her company are basically the home base for the CEO classes, they have resources and train the class facilitators and train the board members for CEO.  CEO is a rapidly growing all across the country. In order to maintain the core values and have a consistent program, people like Cheryl are needed to train the newcomers.

Austin Thurman
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Austin

On Monday we had Michael Crotty come and present a prototype and prices of our decorations. It was definitely eye opening and was probably a setback. This event is going to cost a lot more than we originally planned.

Following that we went to Fletchers on Tuesday. This visit was extremely insightful to starting and running a restaurant and some points carry over to any type of business. There is an organization called the small business association that claims to be helpful in starting many businesses but they have extremely high interest rates and end up killing their businesses. His advice was to run away from anything to do with the SBA. We also learned about return on investment (ROI) which is pretty self-explanatory but he explained that sales are everything in a business. It supersedes anything and everything. He also said to maximize ROI never stop improving and pay your bills first, then your supplies, and lastly everything else. In order for a business to succeed there has to be at least one person that is “pig” committed. Which in the nut-shell means that the pig has to die in order to provide food or if the business goes south you have to cover it and take the hit. Instead of being “chicken” committed, where a hen can lay an egg and walk away untouched. A few bits of advice we received here and there is do not open a restaurant in a mall. Reason being is that a mall has specific hours in which it closes but you may not lock the doors until an hour or two after them. But because the lights are black and the cars are gone in the mall nobody bothers to approach the area. Also owning the property is more beneficial than leasing or renting the property. This is true for a number of reasons: if you lease there is a set chunk of money that you will never see again, also if you own the property you can do what you want with it. Remodel, tear things down, and customize the area specifically to your business.  Finally the business world is a grind and can get rough but never give up on your company.

Finally on Wednesday Mrs. Cheryl Mitchell came and spoke to us about CEO as a whole. Their expansion, training, meetings, the start, the traveling. It was amazing to hear the story about how our class came to be and how fortunate I am and the class is to have such a program available. In all honesty I was beginning to lose hope on our class “business.” In my eyes it was going to be a failure. But now that I have heard her energy and her faith in the CEO classes. Also being able to talk to her after class and hearing her opinion on our business has restored my faith in our event. The awesome part about is even with her astoundingly busy schedule she is willing to carve out time and email a potential key-note speaker and set me up for a phone call to increase my chances on striking a deal. Overall I think this week was the best week that I have had in this class.

Carson Gamboe
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Carson

This week was a really short week. On Monday we worked on the class business. Mike Crotty came in to help us with our decorations. Although we are not certain about our main piece of decoration, he made our table centerpieces and they look so good. Mr. Crotty and his mentee Kelly came up with a mini fountain made out of different material to make it look realistic.

Monday afternoon I met with my mentor, Renae Eichholz. I am so excited for her to help me through this class and help me with my business. She started a business in her house and then kept moving up. She is now in a huge building in downtown Belleville and is in the process of building on. She is also in the process of building a restaurant.

On Tuesday, we went to Fletcher’s Kitchen & Tap where we heard Derek Betz speak. Something I really got out of this is that you're going to fail. No matter what you do you will fail. They expanded their restaurant to St. Louis a couple years ago and it failed, but the restaurant in Belleville is booming. They made enough money at the Belleville location to support everything. Instead of trying to expand to another place they are focusing on the Belleville location and adding on a cocktail lounge.

On Wednesday, Cheryl Mitchell from Midland came and spoke to us. She really focused on how much this program is expanding. It is expanding faster than anyone would have thought. It is incredible how someone from such a small town can do such big things. This program started from a student talking about wanting kids to see how business work and a music teacher taking action to that. Their goal is to have this program across the nation. This program is spreading like wildfire. Everyone who hears about this program wants to be a part of it. In the next two years they are going to double the amount of classes they have now.

Claire Randle
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Claire

Life doesn't always go as expected. Sometimes life hits us in ways we never see coming and we just have to roll with the punches. We've come into some rather difficult turns in our class business that we didn't necessarily see or predict to see. Our original idea for a main speaker has run into some trouble due to how expensive or unavailable they are. This will set us back for a minute but as with all things in life, a minor setback is needed for a major breakthrough.

On Tuesday, we visited Fletcher's who's owned by Derek Betz. Supply and demand is huge in his industry and it completely affects his business completely. Fletcher's was opened in 2004. The building used to be a few other restaurants but now it is Fletcher's. The business provides for his family substantially and providing for his family was his main goal.

On Wednesday was Ms. Cheryl Mitchell. Ms. Mitchell is the newest director of Midland Institute after Craig Lindvahl. Craig Lindvahl started before Midland was even thought of. Craig was a music teacher and in independent films but he ended up in T-Town. CEO started by one student just wanting to meet a business owner and then spread the idea around. The Institute was formed in 2010. As of 2016 there are 35 programs. After Craig's pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Cheryl took over as the director of the Institute. The possibilities of how many classes that could start up each new year start getting really high due to amount of popularity. CEO has started to move up north in Illinois, has some classes in Indiana, and new states each year so soon they could be a nationwide program. Midland States Bank was one of their original huge founders and funders. Both share and have people on boards in each of the groups. Some classes have failed before. The new way of "screening" for each new program has changed the way classes are chosen and where they are placed to ensure they don't fail easily. Mrs. Mitchell is a one spectacular person and I would not be surprised if she made the CEO program become a nationwide craze.

Royce Payne
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Royce

This week at CEO we talked with Derek Betz, the owner of Fletcher’s Kitchen, and Cheryl Mitchell. It was interesting to hear from a restaurant and see their perspective on business. Cheryl Mitchell came and talked to us about Midland and CEO. It was great to hear about the program’s beginnings and its future.

Fletcher’s was a great business to visit. Mr. Betz talked about all different aspects of his business, but one thing he really departed with me was the concept of being pig or chicken committed. As an entrepreneur, one might often find themselves having multiple business ideas. This is ok and good you just have to be careful. You can only be pig committed to one business. This means you are willing to die for be perfect breakfast. All other businesses you can only be chicken committed. This is where yes you care and want it to succeed, but if it fails you can still move on. Basically you can not fully commit to two things or else they will both fail. I found this advice very interesting and hopefully will find it helpful in the future.

Cheryl Mitchell came to talk to us on Wednesday. It was awesome hearing how the CEO program got started. It was interesting to me to see how they took the idea of the class and turned it into a product for Midland to sell. I also liked how the program grows organically. This shows that if a product is great, sometimes you don't need to spend a lot of money to advertise. One thing that stuck with me, was how some programs had failed. Midland realized some places were failing and figured out a solution to the problem.

It was a short week for CEO with Thursday off. Our class business is finally starting to take shape with our keynote speaker now figured out. We have a lot of great ideas for the theme and decorations of the event. Our venue is still being discussed but should be finished soon. I'm excited to finally start finding sponsors and selling tickets.

Tim Donaho
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Tim

This week in CEO was quite adventurous when we got to meet with Cheryl Mitchell from the Midland Institute, and Derek Betz from Fletcher’s Kitchen. Even though the week was cut down short our learning was not.

The week started at Fletchers we got to meet the owner Mr. Derek Betz. He was telling us about the financials of owning a business and opening up your own business. I remembered that he was asking us how invested are we actually in our companies. He used the analogy pig invested or chicken invested.   For instance, in breakfast a chicken lays an egg and then walks away expecting it to be a marvelous thing like a company.  If you are chicken invested, you help here and there and want it to grow but it's not you're all in commitment. Then you can be pig committed, pigs no matter what have to sacrifice their lives for our breakfast. If you are pig committed in your company you will die for your company and do whatever it takes to see your company grow and thrive. I am definitely going to be pig committed in my personal business.

The day following Mrs. Cheryl Mitchell came in to talk to us about the Midland Institute and the growth of CEO. She also gave us a book written by Craig Lindvahl who is currently battling cancer. I am already halfway done with the book by the way. The way Mrs. Mitchell explained to us I am very Intrigued to see how CEO grow in the future.   It seems like Illinois is being swarmed with new CEO classes all over the state and also Minnesota and Colorado is getting a CEO class which I am very excited about. She told us that she wants us as alumni to always stay in touch with CEO and recommended that we join the CEO personal social media so we can always stay in touch. We all joined in a heartbeat!

This week in CEO was short due to Veteran's Day and certain personal activities but we have all taken progress in our class business.  We even had Mr. Crotty come in to talk to us on Monday about decorations and how he would think everything would look.   I would like to thank him for that.

 I would also like to thank my business mentor Mr. Adam Hill, for taking some time out on Friday and getting some financials down and looking around the city for some affordable equipment for my personal business. I cannot wait to show everyone what I have in store because it’s just a matter of time until it happens. With the accelerated pace it seems the first semester of CEO is almost over and it has been absolutely amazing I cannot wait to see what second semester has in store because if it is anything like the first or better this class will undoubtedly be the best class in Belleville West Business classes history or actually the best business class in Illinois.

Jaylen Davis
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Jaylen

Week 12 was a short, but very informative and productive week.  We started off the week with another work day.  We met with Michael Crotty, and we discussed possible designs for our mini fountains.  I am really excited, and I think that they will look very nice.  We can also fit sponsorships on them with is also very important.  I think that the chocolate fountain was a great idea to keep the theme going as well as keeping expenses low.  We need to nail down a venue.  I am happy to say that we were able to get Ben Glenn's price down to 3,500. I think that is very expensive, but I think it will be worth the investment in the long run. It was a good experience talking in the phone and negotiating a price.  I was very pleased with my results.  

On Tuesday, we met at Fletchers.  It is a very good restaurant on the west end of Belleville.  Mr. Betz commented on how people are the most important thing in your life.  We need people to be successful, and we also need them to be happy.  He also commented on failing.  We all fail it is how we respond that is important.  He commented on how he failed in opening a restaurant in St. Louis.  It never discouraged him, but helped him become more experienced.  He now knows to be more careful when opening a restaurant.  I really liked his analogy of pig committed vs chicken committed.  I think that it is very important to be completely invested in your business.  Surround yourself with people that will help your business grow.  I think you should demand that best from your employees as well as hire the best.  He also stressed the importance of building your resume.   

Cheryl Mitchell came and visited us on Wednesday.  I really loved hearing her talk. She expressed a lot of energy and support.  I am glad that she loves this program and wants to see it grow so much.  That is very nice to see.  The ultimate goal for CEO is to become the business educational standard among high schools across the U.S. I really hope that it is possible to achieve that. I was fortunate enough to meet and talk with Cheryl after class for a few hours. I am very happy I met her because she is a very kind, loving, and nice person.  She was willing to help talk us through life decisions while having fun and joking around. I thought that was awesome to see someone care so much. 

Finally, I was also very excited to talk at the investor luncheon.  It was a good opportunity to speak about the class while getting practice public speaking.  I am decent at public speaking, but I can get nervous so I was happy to be able to do that. It was nice to be able to thank Mrs. Siebers as well as the investors. I also loved talking to them and getting to know them better.

Stephen Waltrip
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Stephen

Monday for CEO it was technically a work day and work days are usually just my classmates and are teacher, but this one was quite interesting cause we got my mentor Michael Crotty (whose awesome) to come in and talk with us about decorations for the event were having. And for the class business we're having I’m the one in charge of decorations. Which is great that I can help out in this way because I’m not the best with numbers and stuff like that. But it can be real challenge because not a lot of people in my class are into art and decorating so they didn't or don't understand how the little things add up in cost. There’s also the problem on finding the true cost which also makes my job difficult. But I’ll try my best, and I got a good set of people to help out.

 Tuesday we got to go to Fletcher's Kitchen & Tap and got to talk and hear from Derek Betz one of the founders/owner of Fletchers. He has a degree in hotel & restaurant management. Which he uses quite a lot he has open over 17 restaurants. Which he talked and explained about. And he taught about how it's not a good idea to open a business with friends. Cause if it gets hard and they don't want to do the work you're going to have to try to get them out of the business which can be quite hard being as you're close to that person. And plus when you finally get that person out of the business you just lost them as a friend. Which is really sad and hard especially if the person was your best friend from childhood.

 He also got to talking why most businesses fail. They ignore simple math, get to far personal with the business where they can't let it go and kept putting money into it and not earn enough to keep it going. And he also told us a bit on how important sales are and how important it is to know where your sales come from. Which was fascinating especially to me because I never really thought about it before. It definitely made me rethink a lot about businesses.      

 Later this week Cheryl Mitchell, Executive Director of Midland Institute. She first started off telling us about Craig Lindvahl. He spent 35 years working as a teacher /filmmaker /musician. He’s a real unique person according to Cheryl Mitchell. She told us how Midland is connected to CEO, but the same time it’s different. She also talked about how it's a nonprofit organization, and its growth rate. She also explained why CEO is mostly just seniors. And it was really interesting how she described the expanding of CEO in different committees. During the whole talk it was amazing hearing her passion for CEO.  She also taught us how student are chosen for CEO.   

Kelly Rowden
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Kelly

Monday in our CEO class was another workday. We finalized details and brought new ideas for our class business to be approved. I have said this before, but what makes our workdays so precious to me is that I get to balance other people's ideas and find a productive compromise for when they present them. Having these kind of working days give all of us a sense of what it will be like to work with other people in a professional business setting without getting our feelings involved and having a discussion turn into an argument. Not only is this incredibly valuable for our future professional experience, but it makes us more mature as a whole.

On Tuesday our class made a trip to Fletcher's kitchen and tap to talk to the CEO, Derek Betz, and learn about what made his business so successful in Belleville. Mr. Betz talk to us about being pig committed and chicken committed, another way of saying you're either all in for a business or just a little bit involved. I obviously that would talk to us about being pig committed and chicken committed, another way of saying you're either all in for a business or just a little bit involved. He also talked to us about how Fletcher's has come a long way under his management and ownership. Mr. Betz obviously cares very much for his business and that is a key component to his success. I hope to one day be able to start a business that I care so very much for as he does with his restaurant.

On Wednesday, the last day of CEO class in week 12, we met at Barcom Security with the executive director of Midland Institute, Cheryl Mitchell. She was extremely lively and from the way she talks about the program you know that she cares very much for the CEO program-a little bit like how Mr. Betz cares about Fletcher's.

Alayna Wells
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Alayna

Even with the short end amount of days we had to meet this was yet another great week for the CEO class.  In these short days we discussed decorations for the class busines, visited the owner of Fletcher's, and met once again with Cheryl Mitchell of Midland.  All of which were really great and informative.

Like I said we began our week with meeting at Barcom to discuss and go over some of the decorations that have been proposed for our class show.  We also had Michael Crotty come in to show us a prototype for the mini fountains we have been considering as a table top decoration.  Overall we have really been putting in a lot of work, trying to create decorations to enhance the theme of, “Around The Fountain.”

On Tuesday we met at Fletcher's where we spoke with Derek Betz who is one of the two owners of the restaurant.  Where we discussed a wide range of topics like supply and demand and the importance of location.  The thing we discussed that resonated with me the most was the 1 minute reprimand and 1 minute punishment technique, because no matter what happens has happened so it's in the past and you can't linger on faults or successes to long because you have to keep moving forward.

On Wednesday we met back at Barcom, and got to speak with Cheryl Mitchell once again; this time being more in depth.  She spoke about how the CEO class formed with Midland, and really stressed the growth of what the class has done and how widespread it now is.  We also learned how lucky Belleville is to have this class, because it does not work right in many cities.

Like I said this week was very short, as we didn't have class on Thursday and Friday. But as always it was a really interesting, insightful, and informative week for the entire CEO class and I can't wait for next week!

Cole Maul
Friday, November 11, 2016Learn More About Cole